Drew Forrest
The recent pow-wow between the top brass of the African National Congress and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu)was “one of the most constructive since 1994”, National Union of Mineworkers’ general secretary Gwede Mantashe insisted this week.
Mantashe was among the union chiefs who met President Thabo Mbeki and a team of ANC leaders to debate tensions in the alliance last week.
The Mail & Guardian reported that Mbeki accused the unionists of undermining him and the ANC. Mantashe did not deny such accusations had been levelled, but said “this was not the issue”. He said the ANC’s case had been put by deputy general secretary Thenjiwe Mtintso.
“The parties started from positions of tension and conflict, and both put their concerns and perceptions on the table. But we agreed we have to move on to deal with the real issues. We demystified the view that either side has a monopoly on wisdom. I believe we are beginning to move in the same direction.”
A follow-up meeting, to focus on the economy, is planned for February 9.
Mantashe’s upbeat view was seconded by Cosatu president Willy Madisha, who said “we need to engage and we finally have the space for engagement”.
Union hopes of newfound ANC flexibility on economic restructuring, and desire for improved ties with labour, were also buoyed by this week’s lekgotla for ANC national executive committee (NEC) members. They agreed to seek a new consensus on economic growth, in part through a national growth summit.
ANC moderates regard as important breakthroughs the lekgotla’s “thorough and concerned discussion” of the state of the tripartite alliance and ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe’s subsequent suggestion, at a press conference, that the government’s growth, employment and redistribution policy (Gear) may not be enough to stimulate growth.
Motlanthe announced that a “social accord” between the government, labour and business would be tabled at the National Economic Development and Labour Council. An ANC NEC member said this would present a real opportunity for a negotiated settlement on vexed issues such as privatisation.
There would be no government retreat on privatisation, but there was plenty of scope for debate on principle and for give and take on detail. “There’s a recognition of differences, and there may have to be trade-offs,” said the source. “Some unionists are saying they see no connection between privatisation and the Freedom Charter.”
The Cosatu left is more sceptical, viewing the growth summit idea as growing out of a Treasury proposal for an investment summit and essentially pitched at business. “Particularly with the collapse of the rand, business is also unhappy about economic policy,” said a source. “That worries government more than union complaints.”
Unions are also unclear on the relationship between the government’s growth summit and Cosatu’s “people’s summit” for civil society, planned for April, on alternatives to Gear.
“We don’t know what the ANC’s proposal is and who’s going to be there,” said Cosatu’s Patrick Craven. “There must be a genuinely representative summit.” He envisaged a major role for the ANC at the Cosatu gathering.
Neither the NEC source nor Mantashe saw HIV/Aids policy apparently not discussed at length at the lekgotla as an intractable problem. “By supplying drugs at certain hospitals government has accepted the principle of drug treatment,” Mantashe said. “The argument is about how far you take it it’s about money.”
An ANC parliamentarian said there would be no fundamental policy shifts. It was widely accepted in the ANC that Gear played an important role in stabilising macroeconomic fundamentals, but that further micro-interventions were needed for growth.
“There is a broad realisation that the ANC needs to map out where it’s going on the economy, and that one of the biggest blockages has been labour. We must secure their support.”